9 Ways To Get Popular Books For Free–Including Paperbacks

If you have a great love for books, but a small amount of cash in your bank account, don’t worry, you don’t have to cut new books from your budget. With these nine ways to get popular books for free, you can go beyond borrowing great books to adding them to your home library for zero dollars out of pocket. Plus, you don’t have to be limited to free ebooks and audiobooks–you can receive paperbacks and hardbacks for free too.

9 Ways To Get Popular Books For Free–Including Paperbacks

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1. Library

Let’s get the obvious source for free books out of the way–your local library. Here you can enjoy audiobooks, books on CD, paperback books, hardcover books, large print books, and even ebooks for free (well, it could cost you a few library fines if you don’t return them on time).

I rarely even step into my library anymore, yet I use their services several times a week. How? My library card allows me to use the Libby app and the Hoopla app to borrow both audiobooks and ebooks. I love these apps. Thanks to my library for providing them, I can now listen to a book while decluttering, doing housework, or taking a relaxing walk through the park.

3. Prime Reading

You can get free ebooks that you can keep forever through Amazon, but many of them are low-quality or super short. However, Prime member have access to Prime Reading, which gives you access to more than a thousand ebooks–many of which are recent releases or titles that have stood the test of time and are still well read. You can download 10 Prime Reading titles at a time.

4. Little Free Library Boxes

You might have spotted one of these boxes in your area and wondered what it is all about. The slogan for Little Free Library is “take a book, share a book.” I keep a bag of books in the back of my car that I have already read so I can swap them out at Little Free Libraries I pass by for books I have not read yet. If you pass one and don’t have a book to swap, don’t worry, you can still take a book. Just slip one in the box next time you pass it.

5. No Rush Rewards

“No rush” rewards is an incentive program that is often offered to Prime members in the shopping cart area as you are picking your shipping option. Amazon regularly offers its Prime members a $1 digital credit that can be used towards purchasing ebooks if they choose no rush shipping instead of the two-day prime shipping option. I do this whenever I don’t need an item right away and let the credits add up until I can get an ebook for free.

To stretch my dollars even further I have created an Amazon wishlist that I add kindle titles to and whenever I have at least $3 in credit I scroll this list to see if any of the books I want are on sale–often this leads to a free book.

6. Free Audio Book And eBook Subscription Trials

If you are disciplined enough to set a reminder to cancel a free trial before it ends, and then take the time to cancel it, free trials for audio and ebook services can be great ways to read books for free.

Walmart Audio Books By Kobo–your first audiobook is free. Make sure to check Rakutenor Swagbucks for a cash back deal first before signing up for the trial. If you do end up joining, using their links could earn you a cash back.

Scribd–30-day free trial.

7. Sign Up To Review Books

When I first started blogging, I signed up for every company out there I could find that offered bloggers free books in exchange for a written review on their blog. The number of books I was required to read each month got a little overwhelming. So if you go this route, I suggest signing up for just one or two companies. Two companies to look into are NetGalley and TLC Book Tours.

8. Bookswap With Friends

Bookworms tend to attract other book lovers, so why not gather your friends together and hold a book swap.

Earning a few gift cards to spend on books doesn’t have to be time-consuming. I earn dozens of gift cards each year by joining several companies and sticking to the simplest way to earn points at each. Often these point earning tasks are things I already do online, so why not earn something in return for doing them–like performing web searches or buying daily deals.

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Hi, I'm Victoria

Welcome to the Snail Pace Transformations blog where I share my tips for improving finances and home management one small step at a time. Why small? Because small changes are more likely to transform your life.